The Joys Of The Monsoon

Norachan · Jul 16, 2019

Does anyone else live in an area that gets monsoon rains?

Maybe

Maria Bayote will know what I mean.

We get hit by the monsoon every June and July. Over here it's known as Plum Rain. I guess because the rain drops are as big as plumbs. This year it seems to be going on longer than ever. As well as the heat, humidity and constant rain there are all these other issues that cat lovers have to deal with.

First of all, moldy cat litter. I use a cat litter made for soy by-products, which is very cheap and totally biodegradable. It's also a great place to grow mold. I mean bright green lawns of mold that spring up in about 24 hours once the cat litter has been used a few times.

:barfgreen:

Next, something I call Hairy Fridge Effect. Because it's so humid any smooth, cool surface gets covered in condensation really quickly. Add to that around 20 or so hairy beasts that are in the middle of molting. Every time one of them walks past the fridge they leave a coating of cat hair on the damp fridge door. My fridge looks like a yeti!

:eek2:

I can't leave any dry cat food out for more than a couple of hours, because it starts to go damp. If any of the cats coughs up a hair ball on the deck and I don't notice it looks like a furry caterpillar within about a day.

All my lovely planters full of petunia and marigolds have given up, there's nothing but black mush left out there now.

I have to keep tubs and sachets of those moisture absorbing crystals in all my wardrobes and closets or my clothes will start to smell damp within a few days of hanging them up.

I'm so ready for this rainy season to end.

Anyone else having this problem?

Maria Bayote · Jul 16, 2019

I have not experienced the typhoon season in my beloved country for 14 years now, as mostly I am away, and my husband and I visit only once a year during summer months. I admit I miss the seemingly endless rains, the humidity before it starts to pour, and the bit of a cold when it finally rains. I miss the sound of the raindrops on my roof and on the pavement; the feel and smell of my dogs when it gets too cold and they snuggle, or the taste of the chocolate porridge being served as our afternoon snack.

I seem to be getting carried away by my recollections...

For my one cat Pepsi back home we use the crystal litter. A bit more expensive than the regular clumping litters but he is used to that so we cannot probably change. I may ask them to try the other brands / types.

Our main problem when it rains non-stop are the clothes after washing. It really smells bad when it is not dried as it should be. So we put a lot of fabric conditioners or else we have to re-wash again.

And of course the dogs can't get outside, which makes them miserable. My cat Pepsi doesn't care. He does not like the outdoors.

debbila · Jul 16, 2019

We get monsoons in summer here in Arizona. Thankfully we don't have to worry about mold since we have almost zero humidity. We don't get enough rain the rest of the year, so the monsoon causes a lot of traffic accidents since our residents aren't used to driving in rain.

I used to live on the east coast of the U.S. and we had terrible problems with mold. I lived near the Atlantic ocean and we had very high humidity. Things never completely dried out. Our boots, bathroom tiles, the inside of closets and cupboards got moldy in spring when we had the most rain. Basements were the worst, we had to run a dehumidifier down there. I would always get upper respiratory infections in the fall from leaf mold allergy. I'm glad those days are over!

Mia6 · Jul 16, 2019

Norachan said:
Does anyone else live in an area that gets monsoon rains?

Maybe tabbytom and Maria Bayote will know what I mean.

We get hit by the monsoon every June and July. Over here it's known as Plum Rain. I guess because the rain drops are as big as plumbs. This year it seems to be going on longer than ever. As well as the heat, humidity and constant rain there are all these other issues that cat lovers have to deal with.

First of all, moldy cat litter. I use a cat litter made for soy by-products, which is very cheap and totally biodegradable. It's also a great place to grow mold. I mean bright green lawns of mold that spring up in about 24 hours once the cat litter has been used a few times.

Next, something I call Hairy Fridge Effect. Because it's so humid any smooth, cool surface gets covered in condensation really quickly. Add to that around 20 or so hairy beasts that are in the middle of molting. Every time one of them walks past the fridge they leave a coating of cat hair on the damp fridge door. My fridge looks like a yeti!

I can't leave any dry cat food out for more than a couple of hours, because it starts to go damp. If any of the cats coughs up a hair ball on the deck and I don't notice it looks like a furry caterpillar within about a day.

All my lovely planters full of petunia and marigolds have given up, there's nothing but black mush left out there now.

I have to keep tubs and sachets of those moisture absorbing crystals in all my wardrobes and closets or my clothes will start to smell damp within a few days of hanging them up.

I'm so ready for this rainy season to end.

Anyone else having this problem?

Do you have ac?

Norachan · Jul 16, 2019

Maria Bayote said:
I admit I miss the seemingly endless rains, the humidity before it starts to pour, and the bit of a cold when it finally rains. I miss the sound of the raindrops on my roof and on the pavement; the feel and smell of my dogs when it gets too cold and they snuggle, or the taste of the chocolate porridge being served as our afternoon snack.

You've described it so poetically, it almost makes me like the monsoon.

:lol:

I admit I love the sound of the rain falling and the lush green colour the forest has turned.

Just not the lush green mold on the inside of my closet.

debbila said:
I would always get upper respiratory infections in the fall from leaf mold allergy. I'm glad those days are over!

Uh oh, that sounds nasty. I'm glad I haven't experienced that.

Mia6 No, I don't have AC. It's never hot enough here to need it. Maybe that's something I need to think about when we rebuild this house.

tabbytom · Jul 16, 2019

Norachan said:
We get hit by the monsoon..................

Monsoon? What's that? :headscratch:

Is it when the weekend is about to end and getting ready for a new week and it'll be Monday so its called Monsoon then Monday?.............. :lol:

Typically, we have two main monsoon seasons in Singapore: Northeast Monsoon Season (December-March) and the Southwest Monsoon Season (June-September) and we have the average humidity above 80%. So it's wet and damp.

Weather is hot and humid and you feel sweaty and sticky. Things gets moldy but not to the extend of hairy fridge and hairy caterpillars and thankfully, the litter is not affected or maybe it was as it's clumping litter and it acts as a dehumidifier :think:

............. :jawdrop:

Certain materials gets moldy faster than others and some just don't get moldy. I've some note pads that have been kept for at least 15 years and there's no mold or yellowish stains or smell on them but as for some other stuffs, you can feel that it's damp and there's a film of mold on them.

Thankfully, no mushrooms sprouting yet :lol:

PushPurrCatPaws · Jul 16, 2019

Norachan , I cannot imagine that much rain and humidity! Wow. Where I live it must be somewhere between Arizona and Japan, RE: humidity and rain. I doubt they would help in monsoon areas but with things like

debbila describes, things like these might work in basements and closets and placed near litter boxes.

Photographers use them, too, and people who store a lot of (old-fashioned) books and papers. Silica-base, these are safe to be around cats as they cannot get into them; plus they can be recharged for a few years before they probably are no longer effective. Because it rains a lot where I am and because both Milly and I have some issues with damp or musty air in the especially rainy seasons, I have about 5 placed around our apartment.

Maria Bayote · Jul 16, 2019

Norachan said:
You've described it so poetically, it almost makes me like the monsoon.

Yep, we have to find a bit of positivity in the face of those dark skies and mostly flooded streets.

I can also add, I loved it when it rains non-stop during the weekends: when the family were all in the house and we had no choice but to be huddled together. LOL.

Norachan · Jul 17, 2019

tabbytom said:
Typically, we have two main monsoon seasons in Singapore:

Two monsoons a year!?

That must be like having two Mondays in a week. Oh dear, I'm so sorry!

:alright:

PushPurrCatPaws said:
Silica-base, these are safe to be around cats as they cannot get into them; plus they can be recharged for a few years before they probably are no longer effective

They look good! The ones I use are made of plastic and can't be recharged. Metal reusable ones would be much better.

It didn't rain yesterday, so I dumped all the dead plants and black mud out of the planters. It looks a little less depressing out there now. I may try planting a few more things next month, if the sun comes out.

:please:

tabbytom · Jul 17, 2019

Norachan said:
Two monsoons a year!?

Yes, we have only two seasons here , Rain and shine. Being a small country, we get hit from the weather left and right.

If it's not raining, like now, the temperature can hit 36deg C outdoors. Then later you'll see dark hovering clouds and gusty winds and then it pours. And if it pours for 10 mins after the sweltering heat, be prepared for sticky chewy sweaty weather

It only rain cats and no dogs allowed......... :lol:

aliceneko · Jul 18, 2019

We don't have monsoons here in England (apart from a clothing shop with the same name!), though my mother toured Asia in the '90s and was in Malaysia during the rainy season after spending the start of the season in India.

Jem · Jul 18, 2019

No monsoons here....no anything really. We are not coastal, so no hurricanes or tsunamis. Any tornado we've ever had are pretty small and rare. Our thunder storms can get pretty hairy but they are short lived. We have a fault line, but it's not very active, the biggest earthquake I've ever experienced was just over a 3.5. No volcanos. From a natural disaster stand point we're pretty good!
What we have are long, cold and snow filled winters. :cold:

This past winter was exceptionally bad.

Norachan · Jul 19, 2019

tabbytom said:
Being a small country, we get hit from the weather left and right.

We used to get weather like that when I lived in Hokkuriku, the frozen North of Japan. We didn't get the monsoon, but the winters would blow across the Japan Sea from Siberia. I didn't know you could get thunder storms and snow at the same time. T'was was a dark and fearsome place.

aliceneko said:
We don't have monsoons here in England

Yeah, I used to complain about the weather a lot when I lived in the UK, but it's not that bad, is it? It rains a lot, but you get some nice days too.

Jem said:
No monsoons here....no anything really

Sounds like a good place to be.

foxxycat · Jul 19, 2019

I would definitely get an AC or dehumidifier. And keep the doors/windows locked tight to keep moisture out of the kitchen.

That sounds like hell to be honest.
I am allergic to molds/mildews and now I know why my allergies have gone insane. It's humid and sticky here.

Could you keep the flowers in pots in a window instead of outside or build a leantwo to keep the water out of them next year? Then you can control how much water they get....I would be upset too.

HUGS.

Norachan · Jul 20, 2019

foxxycat said:
Could you keep the flowers in pots in a window instead of outside or build a leantwo to keep the water out of them next year?

I really wanted to brighten up the deck, but I guess covering them for the monsoon would have been a good idea.

Next year......

We're going to rebuild our house in a year or two and I'm making a list of things the new place has to have. A covered deck would be great, so the cats can go out even in the rain or snow. Plus a stone floor, a wood stove, double glazing, enough space for a washer drier, a decent sized kitchen, more storage space...........

:cloud9:

jcat · Jul 20, 2019

Here's a terrific monsoon story:
India Monsoon Floods Force Fatigued Tiger Into Resident's Bed | The Weather Channel

[*]A female tiger displaced by monsoonal flooding in India decided to take a nap on the bed of an area resident.
[*]The owners of the home fled when the tiger strolled onto the premises.
[*]Officials with the Kaziranga National Park arranged the tiger's safe passage back to the forest.

Click to expand...

Jem · Jul 20, 2019

I'm always in absolute awe when I think about at what our planet can do. As devastating as these things can be, you can't deny and in my case admire the tremendous power and even beauty of it.
When I read the article about the tiger (so cool, the respect the people have for their wildlife), it said the rain averaged 7 inches a day. Now I'm sure that's not the most it CAN rain in a day, but wow, 7 inches a day! How can clouds make and release that much water? Just like when I see lightning or a tornado, I absolutely am fascinated by them and really do think they are awesome. The pure power of a hurricane, it's moving AIR for goodness sake, yet can completely decimate an entire area. Of course my admiration of our planets capabilities does not mean I like the end results of these events, but I can't help but be in complete awe.

The Joys Of The Monsoon

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